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Loud As A Whisper (episode)
The future of two warring cultures depends on a deaf negotiator, Riva, who loses his ability to communicate. Summary The war-torn planet Solais V, desperate for peace, calls for the famous mediator Riva to hear their dispute. This man, being deaf, depends on his telepathic powers, and those of his three aides, to communicate with others. The ''Enterprise'' is dispatched to bring Riva to the planet, where Counselor Troi, through her empathic senses, becomes close to him. Riva had apparently worked on several peace treaties with the Klingon Empire. All of these treaties apparently failed and remorse is felt by Worf. Worf, along with Picard and Troi, is transported down to the planet Ramatis III to pick up Riva. Troi becomes a vital member in the away team because of her telepathic abilities. From their first meeting, Riva is impressed and attracted by her telepathic capabilities and, foremost, by her beauty. Riva and Troi continually meet to show their affection. Riva, in his persistent behavior, has let his emotions takeover the mission that he set out to do. Over dinner they carry on conversations through hand motions. During dinner, Picard discovers that the cease fire on Solais V has been broken and that the two factions have continued their battle. The dinner is interrupted when the two factions request his presence. Upon Picard's request, Riva approaches the bridge to conduct the peace agreement between the two factions. Beyond all skepticism, Riva successfully stops the battle between the two factions and decides to locate a meeting spot on Solais V to conduct a peace meeting. Riva's aides each represent a fundamental emotional component of his psyche, and their mode of communication has evolved over many generations. During the peace talks, an itchy trigger-finger and taut nerves lead to the accidental phaser death of Riva's whole Chorus. Riva becomes distraught and refuses to continue with the negotiations. Data, through the computer, analyzes a number of different sign languages that help him to construct an index which he later uses to decipher Riva's sign language. Riva assumes responsibility for the deaths of his translators and is not willing to continue with the peace treaty. Riva explains that he cannot use Data because Data cannot deliver emotions found in his translator's voices. Meanwhile, La Forge and Chief Medical Officer Pulaski discuss his medical case. Dr. Pulaski is apparently capable of repairing his eyes through two types of surgery: ocular implants which would give him 80% of the vision provided by his VISOR, or extensive repairs done to the optical nerves and replicated eyes which would give him normal vision but at greater risk. La Forge, overwhelmed, decides to take time to think about his decision. Troi tells Riva that she will be conducting the negotiations in his place and asks for help. Riva explains several of the important aspects of negotiating peace between warring factions. One such idea, "turn a disadvantage into an advantage," inspires Riva to come up with a solution. Riva decides that the best way to resolve the confrontation is for him to teach sign language to both factions, believing that as the factions learn to talk to him, they will also learn to talk to one another. The Enterprise leaves Riva on the planet to resolve the issue and carries on. Log Entries *Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2365 *First officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) Background Information *Howie Seago (Riva) is in fact deaf, and petitioned the producers to create a show about deaf people, the better to dispel dangerous myths about them. *Marnie Mosiman, a guest star in this episode, is married to John de Lancie, famous for his recurring role as the interdimensional menace, Q. Deleted references *The script of this episode stated that Riva was forced to learn sign language while mediating a conflict in the Plaeties system. The beings involved in the conflict were extremely paranoid and did not allow Riva's Chorus to accompany him, so in order to communicate on his own behalf, the deaf mediator had to learn sign language. However, this information did not make it into the final cut of the episode. Links and References Main Cast *Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard *Jonathan Frakes as William Riker *LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge *Michael Dorn as Worf *Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi *Brent Spiner as Data *Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher Special Guest Appearance *Diana Muldaur as Katherine Pulaski Guest Stars *Chorus **Marnie Mosiman as Harmony/Wisdom **Thomas Oglesby as Scholar/Artist **Leo Damian as Passion/Warrior *Howie Seago as Riva Co-Stars *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien (credited as "transporter chief") *Richard Lavin as Warrior #1 *Chip Heller as Warrior #2 *John Garrett as Lieutenant #1 *Unknown actor as Lieutenant #2 *Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace (uncredited) References 9th Century CE; blindness; ceasefire; chicken; deaf; ear; Earth; empathic; Fendaus V; Fendaus system; gestural language; hemophilia; House of Hanover; Klingon Empire; Klingonese; laser weapons; lateral sensor array; Leyron; Lima Sierra system; M-9; Malkus IX; Malkus system; NCC-7100; ocular implant; optic nerve; optic nerve laser welding; Ramatis III; Ramatis system; replicator; sign language; Solais V; Solais system; Solari; Solari wars; VISOR; Zambrano, Battle of |next= }} Category:TNG episodes de:Der stumme Vermittler es:Loud as a Whisper fr:Loud as a Whisper nl:Loud as a Whisper